


I've got you

by LaneMartin13



Series: Hold me in your arms again [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Guilt, Happy Ending, Harley & Peter are established, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley is Tony's adopted son more or less, Harley is really going through it, Hurt Harley, Hurt/Comfort, Idk timeline positioning of this event, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injuries depicted but not graphic, Iron Dad, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) Lives, Kidnapping, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Parley, Peter & Harley are eighteen, Peter-centric, Protective Peter Parker, Spider-Lad, Tony-centric, but it's okay he's okay, harley-centric, not graphic, parkner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-22 09:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19664797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaneMartin13/pseuds/LaneMartin13
Summary: Living in fear of losing was no life at all.Sometimes you had to take the leap of faith, take the plunge.But sometimes in this profession, it caught up to you.OR: The inevitable happens and Harley is used as leverage when he is kidnapped by an unknown masked man and the others have to get him back.New chapter added!





	1. Don't mess with family

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> I finally mustered enough energy to post a Harley/Peter fic! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!!

As horrible as it may sound, they _had_ seen this coming. 

It could have been any one of them, at any given point or time. 

They just knew it would happen eventually. 

They would be foolish not to acknowledge it. 

They knew the stakes, the risks, the implications. 

They knew and accepted them without blinking.

That did not however, make them any more prepared for it. 

It didn’t make it any easier either. 

They knew it was a possibility, that it may very well happen, but they still hoped that the odds would be in their favor. 

They weren’t. 

***

When Tony’s phone rang at precisely 2:00pm on a Thursday afternoon, he figured it was Pepper calling him from upstairs, telling him to crawl his ass out of the lab and eat something before he died and she had to call someone to collect his carcass. Before he got a chance to even check the caller ID, JARVIS was speaking. 

“Sir, you have an incoming video message,” the AI spoke through the speakers in the ceiling, nearly catching the billionaire off guard. 

“Play it Jar,” Tony instructed, turning on his heel to look at the wall where the message would play. His phone, no longer ringing, nearly slipped from his grasp as he watched the video appear. 

In the middle of the room, seated in a metal chair, was Harley Keener. 

For a minute, Tony felt like his heart had stopped. And it might’ve.

“Oh kid,” he breathed, taking in his appearance. He seemed to be unconscious, his head lolled back, slightly to the side, and his light brown hair flopped in every direction. A bright light was being shone onto Harley both from the front and the back, clearly illuminating his frame in the darkness. Blood matted his forehead and his hair from a gash at his hairline, and was even down the side of his neck from another cut there. The flannel he wore that morning was long gone, exposing the pale skin of his arms now marred with bruises and cuts. His dark jeans were cut at one knee and Tony could clearly see the discoloration and the abrasions that likely ran up and down his entire right leg. His wrists and ankles were bound with zip-ties and the skin around them were red and raw, likely from Harley struggling. He was still clothed aside for the shed flannel, shoes and all, and Tony had to be grateful for small mercies. His attention was snapped away from Harley when another figure appeared in the frame, coming up behind his pseudo son and tugging on his hair to move his head up, even though he remained unconscious.

Tony smacked his hand on the table and spewed several warnings and swears that went unheard to the assailant.

“Mr. Stark,” the masked man started, his voice distorted from a device. “It seems I have something very important to you,” he continued, “and you have something I want.”

Tony maintained a crushing grip on his phone, his other hand splayed on the desk and his jaw clenched tightly, wanting to scream at the man to get out with it and give him his kid back.

“Not only do I want proper monetary compensation, I want all of your Iron Man schematics,” the man said, his exposed lips tilting upwards satisfactorily as he imagined the billionaire’s reaction. “We’ll be in touch,” he finished, letting go of Harley’s hair so his head lolled back down, before nodding to an unseen man who promptly shut the camera off.

“JARVIS,” Tony managed after a moment of deep breaths to calm himself. “What’s the timestamp?”

“12:00pm this afternoon sir,” was the automatic response.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply, inhaling and exhaling for a few moments. “JARVIS call Pepper and tell her to please come down, it’s urgent. Also tell Happy to pick up Peter and his little friends. I want this tower on lockdown,” he ordered, loosening his grip on his phone and actually looking at it.

_Three missed calls and four messages from Underoos._

Already dialing, Tony held the phone to his ear and waited anxiously for Peter to pick up. He prayed to god that he was alright and hadn’t been taken too.

 _“Mr. Stark! I’m so glad you called, I tried calling you but you weren’t answering and—”_ the teen rambled, having to be cut off.

“Peter, Happy is on his way. Grab your little band of misfits and wait in the entrance until he comes inside for you,” he directed. He knew Peter could take care of himself but he couldn't afford anything else happening.

_“What— okay— Mr. Stark what’s going on? Have you heard from Harley? He went outside for some air and when I went later he wasn’t there so I though maybe he went to class, you know? But he wasn’t there and I can’t find him and he didn’t text me—”_

“Peter,” Tony said gently but sternly to get him to calm down. “Just go with Happy okay kid? I’ll explain everything once you’re here.”

 _“Okay, yeah, okay, I see him now. We’ll see you soon,”_ Peter nodded even though Tony couldn’t see it. He beckoned MJ and Ned over and the three of them moved to follow Happy to the car, asking him questions that he didn’t have answers to along the way.

“Be safe kid,” Tony said, hanging up the phone and setting it down on the table, leaning his palms on it before looking at the paused screen JARVIS pulled back up. He glared daggers into the blue eyes of the masked man and his eyes shook at the sight of Harley in that state. “I’m gonna get you back kid, I promise,” he said to himself, nodding resignedly. Pushing off the table he turned and moved to his holographic screen, running his own scans on the man to try and find out who he was while having JARVIS complete similar tasks.

He only stopped when he heard the lab doors behind him slide open and heeled footsteps followed by the squeaking of familiar sneakers and worn dress shoes made their entrance. Tony turned slowly, meeting the eyes of three members of their little dysfunctional family.

His heart leapt with panic when he took in Peter’s expression and how it morphed from confusion to sadness, his eyes shaking with blossoming tears.

“Harley?” Peter croaked, looking at the screen behind Tony brokenly, effectively drawing both Pepper and Happy’s attention to it.

“We’re gonna get him back,” Tony assured, moving to stand in front of him.

Peter’s large brown eyes snapped back to Tony and he sniffled, composing himself and wiping at his face before steeling himself. “What do we have to do?” he asked, his eyes now hard and determined. He would get his boyfriend back no matter what.

Tony’s eyes softened as he looked at his other pseudo son. Patting his shoulder gently, he squeezed it before pulling back and sharing a knowing look with Pepper before moving back to his desk.

“I’ll get access to the security footage around the school and see if the cameras caught anything,” Pepper said, resting her tablet on her arm and walking towards the elevator.

“I’ll make some calls,” Happy nodded, pulling out his phone and rushing to catch up before the elevator doors closed. 

Peter found himself staring at the screen in front of them, so much so that Tony decided that turning it off would be a good idea. Peter shouldn’t have to see Harley like that. And truth be told, he didn’t want to either.

It was two hours later then JARVIS announced an incoming video call, a live one this time.

The announcement had the entire Stark-Potts-Parker-Hogan family on the edge of their seats.

“We meet again, Mr. Stark!” the masked man from before smiled and laughed, eyes boring into the camera as he stood in front of it, blocking all else from view.

Tony tapped his knuckles against the desk before him in a seeming bout of frustration, staring at the man head on and focusing his attention.

Under the table, Peter pressed a button on his phone.

“Where’s the kid?” Tony asked cooly, concealing the anger that threatened to bleed through his words, allowing it to shine through his iris’ instead.

“Mr. Keener is right here,” the man smirked, stepping aside and gesturing widely as he did so, putting Harley on full display. “Now, I hope you considered my terms. I would _hate_ for something bad to happen to Mr. Keener, wouldn’t you?” he hummed, “He already wouldn’t give me the answers I wanted and paid the price so I would advise you to not make the same mistake.”

“You think I’m scared of a middle aged lackey with atrocious fashion sense?” Tony scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest intimidatingly to mask his fear. _Harley hadn’t given up anything. And he got tortured because of it— because of me, because of all of us._

“You should be,” the man smiled maniacally, “Why Mr. Stark? Why, because I have your son’s life in my hands,” he said, moving towards Harley and coming up behind him, pulling his head up by his hair and holding a 12 inch knife to his throat, pressing down the slightest bit. “Are you scared now, Stark?” the man seethed, smiling as he saw Tony’s composure waver the slightest bit and the teen beside him bristle.

At that exact moment, Harley’s bright blue eyes fluttered open dazedly and sluggishly, blinking a few times before resting on the camera.

“Ah, good of you to join us Mr. Keener, say hello to your family dear boy,” the man cooed, applying more pressure to Harley’s neck and reopening the slightly dried cut from before, eliciting a wince from the boy.

“Tony I didn’t tell him anything— don’t—” Harley began, his voice hoarse before cutting off by the knife pressing further, drawing a bit more blood that ran down his neck.

“Hush now, the business men are talking,” his capture scolded, letting the knife fall away from Harley’s neck as he moved to the camera, wielding the weapon in front of him and dragging his gloved hand along it, holding up two gloved fingertips streaked with red blood. “You’ll be getting a message as soon as this call ends with an encrypted account number that you are to transfer twelve million dollars to by this evening. Also in this message is an email address that you will send the Iron Man suit schematics, along with your precious arc reactor blue prints,” he said, checking his watch and tapping it with a blood stained finger. “The clock is ticking Stark,” he warned.

“Tony don’t I’ll be fine—” Harley pleaded, knowing they couldn’t give up the schematics and wanting to stall the video feed. He was abruptly cut off by the man turning and flipping the knife so the butt of it was up before striking Harley across the face with it harshly, his head lolling as he was knocked out again.

“You son of a bitch,” Tony sneered, already midway through his list of obscenities before the masked man ended the call.

It was a silent in the lab for a few moments.

“Peter honey,” Pepper began gently, breaking the silence as she looked to him. “Did you get the location?” she asked, referring the button Peter had pressed discreetly earlier. Tony and Peter had developed a tracking system that would pinpoint the video's location even through their heavy encryption, with the help of Ned's hacking skills. 

Peter tore his wet eyes away from the black screen in front of him to pull his hand out from beneath the desk in order to see the answer. His voice caught in his throat for a moment as he looked down at the words on his phone. Knowing everyone else was waiting anxiously, he swallowed and nodded quickly, swiping across the phone so that the screen was visible in the air in front of them.

Blown up holographically were the coordinates to Harley’s location.

“Ohio, he’s in Ohio,” Happy said, looking back and forth between the screen and Tony who looked unreadable.

“I have to stay here in case he calls again,” Tony sighed heavily, coming to the realization that he couldn’t go with the rest.

“I’ll go,” Peter said immediately, standing up from his seat with a sudden jerk.

“You’re not going by yourself,” Tony refused, turning and pointing at him. “There’s no way,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s only one guy, I can take him down and get Harley out! I can _do_ this, Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed desperately.

“Absolutely not!” Tony argued, turning to Pepper. “Pepper, am I right?”

Pepper sighed and opened her mouth before closing it. “Peter, you can’t go alone,” she agreed.

“But Ms. Potts-” Peter started, only to stop talking when she fixed him a stern look.

“You didn’t let me finish,” she said, “you can’t go alone. You don’t know how many guards are actually there. That doesn’t mean you can’t go at all,” she said, leaving the three confused.

“Somebody call for backup?” A familiar voice piped up from the lab entrance. The four occupants turned to be greeted with Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Steve Rogers. The voice had been Captain America in his attire, his shield strapped to his back.

Pepper smirked slightly when she saw the three. Harley’s captors had changed cars somewhere along the way and she had been unable to locate them so Pepper called any Avenger in the vicinity that could get there fast enough. Pepper Potts would _not_ be losing her son today. Especially to petty kidnapping, no less.

Tony looked at the love of his life in disbelief and love. He had been too preoccupied with everything to call anyone else, thinking he was going to go in and save Harley himself until realizing that was off the table.

“Wheels up in ten,” Clint said, nodding once at Tony when he caught his eyes before gesturing to Peter to get his ass ready if he wanted to come.

Peter didn’t hesitate for a moment before moving, only stopping when Tony grabbed his arm gently.

“Be safe Pete,” he told him, pulling him in for a hug that the teen melted into.

“I’ll bring him back Tony,” Peter said softly, hugging the man back before pulling away to see his nod. With a salute, Peter rushed out of the room.

“This is a damn rollercoaster,” Happy breathed out, plopping back down onto his chair.

Pepper rolled her eyes fondly and set her tablet down, sitting herself down in another chair. She wouldn’t be able to breathe until Harley was back home and in the hospital wing, but she was at least a little more at ease now.

“Tony, they’ll bring him back,” she assured him when she saw his distressed expression.

“I know they will,” Tony nodded immediately, turning his eyes to her. “But how is he going to be when he gets back?” he asked, not expecting an answer.

“He’s a strong kid,” Pepper said, shaking her head. “And he has us, he has Peter, and he has you.”

Tony nodded slowly and smiled only the slightest bit, imagining how amazing of a mother Pepper would be one day and what an amazing job she was doing already. What he did do to ever deserve this woman? He would never know, but he would always be grateful to her and for her. For his entire family, no matter how dysfunctional. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to really relax until the others returned, he set to work on doing what he does best.

“Alright, Clint you cover the plane and make sure we’re ready to get out of here as soon as possible, I’m not liking the quiet,” Steve started, an hour later once they had landed the cloaked jet near the abandoned warehouse. Although it wasn’t so abandoned since it had twenty armed guards scattered throughout within the warehouse alone. Twenty more were throughout the field they were currently in. “Nat, you and I will go in and take out the guards and Peter, you stay close and get Harley out once we find him. We’ll make sure the way out is clear,” he said, waiting for the affirmative reasons.

“No one takes family and gets away with it,” Natasha said, adjusting her electric wrist cuffs.

Steve nodded with a small smile, grabbing his shield and strapping it to his arm instead.

“Let’s get him back,” Peter nodded determinedly through the mask, opening the hatch and running out with the other two upon Steve’s signal.

Clint immediately took his position outside the plane and shot at anyone who dared to get close.

Quickly fighting their way through most of the guards and easily taking them down, the trio made their way to the door, Steve and Peter covering Nat as she used a mini taser button to burst the door open. In perfect formation, they made their way through the corridors.

“Cap!” Nat yelled, jumping over Steve as he ducked and roundhouse kicking the guy behind him into unconscious.

“Thanks,” Steve nodded gratefully, standing back up and throwing his shield at a group of five men, knocking them down like bowling pins.

“Well somebody’s gotta save your ass,” Nat smirked, jumping up and kicking another guy in a face, whipping out two batons and moving to another group of men.

“He has to be down that way!” Peter exclaimed, pointing down one end of the corridor where more guards were coming from. Acting quickly, he webbed one in the face and to the floor, using the man's body to trip some of the others who hadn’t managed to stop in time, webbing them down quickly afterwards.

“Go Queens! We have you covered!” Steve called to him, stomping on a shield on the ground, flipping it up so he could catch it before slamming into the face of the last guy on his end just as Nat swiped a guy’s legs out from under him and struck him in the face with her baton.

Peter nodded quickly and didn’t waste another second before he was running down the hall, using a large post above him to swing above the men. He didn’t have time to fight them, his only focus being Harley and getting him out.

 _“We need to move soon!”_ Clint said urgently through the comms in between shooting arrows.

Peter’s breath quickened and he pushed himself to run faster, jumping along a rail and finding a good spot to swing. He landed softly on a cat walk and looked down below at two armed guards standing outside a large metal door. _That must be it,_ he thought to himself, narrowing his eyes. Shooting a web at the ceiling, he swung down and kicked them both across the face one after the other in just one shot, sending them tumbling off the second level. 

“KAREN, activate taser webs,” he instructed his AI, waiting for her confirmation before he sent a burst of web at the control panel key pad, the technology sizzling and seizing, the door sliding open slowly now that its controls were broken.

Peter rushed into the room and his spidey-sense warned him just in time for him to jerk his upper body to the side and avoid the gunshot that rang in this ears. Whipping around, his hands landed on the shotgun barrel and he ripped it from the man’s grasp, throwing it to the other side of the empty room.

“Spider-Man, how lovely to meet you officially,” the man smiled, throwing a punch at him, Peter catching it easily and twisting his arm around. He hadn’t expected to get a taser shoved into his ribs and he spazzed, collapsing to the ground. Groaning in pain, he raised his head and immediately spotted an unconscious Harley in the chair from the video.

“You’re weak kid, you should go back to school,” the man sneered, pulling off his mask and exposing his brown hair and light eyes.

“And you took somebody important from me,” Peter said, his voice hard and cold as he swept the man’s legs out from under him and jumped back up to his feet, punching the man in the face.

The man, clearly underestimating Peter’s ability, coughed blood from his split lip and laughed. He opened his mouth to speak but Peter didn’t give him the chance, webbing his mouth but not his nose so he could still breathe, before webbing him down to the floor. He had nothing more to say to the man who tortured Harley. Nothing good to say at least. Leaving him where he was, he rushed to Harley and bent down in front of him.

“I found him, I’ve got him,” he reported into the comms breathlessly, pulling off his mask and cradling Harley’s face in his hands. “Harls, baby, come on, wake up,” he pleaded, his voice shaking slightly as he lightly tapped his cheeks to rouse him. Taking a deep breath, he moved his hands down to his ankles and ripped the zip-ties off before doing the same to his wrists. When he looked back up, he caught dazed blue eyes looking at him through barely open eyelids.

“You idiot, you came,” Harley breathed, forcing his eyes back open.

Peter laughed shakily, crying at the sight of those eyes he adored— ones that looked so pained— and that beautiful voice of his.

“I’d never leave you behind,” he smiled softly, standing up properly and sliding his mask back on, making sure the man didn’t see him before lifting one of Harley’s arms to drape it over his shoulders. He knew without even asking that Harley was too weak to move so he slid his other arm under his knees and picked him up gingerly.

“Just hold on to me, we're almost home, I've got you,” he assured, feeling the weight of Harley’s head leaning against his chest and shoulder. Moving quickly without jarring his injured boyfriend, Peter made his way out of the warehouse and to the jet, finding his three teammates and family members waiting for them inside. The proper authorities were already on their way to take care of the mess that was bound to be publicly announced at some point or another.

Steve visibly sighed in relief when they made it and he cleared a space for Peter to lie Harley down.

“Clint, take us up,” he instructed the archer, moving to where he and Nat sat in the piloting chairs, standing behind them to give the two eighteen year olds their space.

Peter pulled off his mask once again, for good this time, as the jet took off. He sat down in the seat beside Harley’s sprawled out and battered body, letting him rest his head on his thigh and stroking his fingers through his hair soothingly. He watched over him as he dozed the rest of the flight home.

Upon their arrival to the tower, Peter gently extracted himself from Harley before picking him up again, making his way down the ramp and immediately laying him down on the prepped gurney. Two doctor’s were whisking him away so quickly that Peter barely had enough time to step back and out of the way. Turning to Steve, Nat, and Clint as they left the jet, he smiled softly.

“Thank you, for saving him,” he said.

“That was all you kid,” Nat said, shaking her head with a soft smile.

“Yeah, technically we were the backup,” Clint agreed, resting his forearm on Nat’s shoulder to lean on her but he was batted away.

“You did good, Queens,” Steve nodded approvingly, patting his shoulder. “We’ll be around if you need us,” he said, laughing slightly at Peter’s awed expression because he could never get over that he personally knew Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, along with the rest of the Avengers.

He was snapped out of his stupor when footsteps bounded down the hall and suddenly Pepper and Tony were right in front of him and pulling him in for a loving group hug that he returned excitedly and tightly. Tony may have denied all affection but he was secretly a huge softie.

“I was worried sick that I was going to have to break the news to May if you got hurt,” Tony said because he was a master of deflection. “You’re not hurt are you?” he then asked, a bit panicked.

“No, tasered but I’ve already healed,” Peter said, shaking his head.

“Tasere— You know what? I’m calm, I’m fine,” Tony said, cutting off his own exasperated outburst and breathing as Pepper put a hand on his back and tried to mask her smile. “Let’s get you out of that suit and then to the infirmary to check on Harley,” he said, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders and leading him away.

Twenty minutes later found Tony, Pepper, and Peter in Harley’s hospital room. Peter and Tony sat on either side of him and Pepper sat on Peter’s side near Harley’s legs.

The many knocks to the head had given Harley a moderate concussion, accompanied by along rectangle of gauze taped to the left side of his forehead. Bruises mottled his right cheekbone and orbital from the butt end of the knife and both of his forearms dawned black and blue splotches from all the manhandling, his wrists red from the ties. Harley’s right leg was outside of the blankets and his knee was elevated by a pillow, an ice pack over the bruised joint. Now that the teen only wore boxers and a t-shirt, Tony’s suspicions were confirmed and his right leg was indeed bruised and scraped from being dragged and his knee had been kicked in when he struggled— the worst of his injuries along with the concussion. He had a few bruises on his chest as well but they were concealed by his shirt and were thankfully not a grand concern. Finally, a large bandaid was placed on the left side of his neck from the cut that had reopened. An I.V. drip was inserted into the crook of his elbow and the back of his hand, Tony’s hand resting on the skin of this arm and Peter holding Harley’s other hand. They had been assured multiple times that Harley would be fine and just needed a lot of rest with minimal movement, and that he just looked worse than he actually was. No matter how many times they were assured, that didn’t mean it tugged at their heartstrings any less.

Two hours later found the three of them in the exact same spot, only now Happy sat in a chair at the back of the room and MJ and Ned sat on a bench off to the side behind Peter, offering their silent support. The room was filled with warmth and worry from their little family, only half of which was here technically since most of the Avengers weren’t in the room.

Harley’s heart monitor spiked slightly as his blue eyes flickered open slowly, catching the attention of every occupant.

“Can’t get rid of me that easily old man,” Harley croaked hoarsely after a minute of regaining his bearings, the corner of his lips tilting upwards slightly in a slight smile.

The comment immediately dispersed the solemn mood and Tony was the first to laugh, loudly, shaking his head. “You’ll be a pain in my ass forever,” he nodded.

“We’re connected,” Harley hummed in agreement, looking at him dazedly and sleepily.

“Yeah kid, we are,” Tony nodded sincerely, looking at him softly and patting his arm.

Harley turned his head slightly on the pillow and caught sight of Peter on his other side. He squeezed his hand gently, curling his fingers around his. “You saved me,” he said softly, a soft smile on his face now.

“I had help,” Peter smiled tearfully, shaking his head but knowing better than to argue on these things since Steve had told him the same earlier. He couldn’t take all the credit, it was an entire team endeavor. Leaning off his chair slightly, he used his free hand to brush Harley’s hair back from his forehead before pressing a gentle kiss there, not missing the way Harley’s eyes fluttered shut in response for a moment before opening again as he pulled away and sat back down properly. “I love you,” he mouthed to his exhausted and battered boyfriend, smiling sadly when Harley mouthed them back. They could get so lost in each other so quickly that it felt like only the two of them in the room.

“Glad you’re not dead,” MJ said bluntly from the side of the room, peering to the side of Peter so Harley would be able to see her.

“Thanks MJ,” Harley laughed very softly, grateful for his friends.

“Yeah it was crazy man, it was like an episode of Criminal Minds,” Ned gushed but shut up when MJ rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow, muttering,

“Nerds,” under her breath but they knew she meant it endearingly.

“Why don’t you get some more rest sweetheart?” Pepper suggested, patting his sock clad ankle gently. “We’re not going anywhere,” she assured.

“Yeah, I’m being paid to sit here and do nothing,” Happy supported but laughed nervously when he was shot with an annoyed look from Pepper. _These people and their communication issues_ , she thought to herself in annoyance, but it was fond.

Harley didn’t even have a chance to protest it, before he was out like a light, soothed to sleep by the hands on him, especially Peter’s hand in his hair and how he rubbed small circles on the back of his hand.

The others in the room knew that they would all have to talk about what happened and how to keep it from _ever_ happening again if they could help it, but for now, they were just content staying where they were.

Five days later found Harley on the living room couch surrounded by Avengers and family during weekly movie night. His leg was elevated on the coffee table and his head was on Peter’s shoulder, his boyfriend’s arm around him snuggly. He was healing, but the process was slow since he was only human. He generally avoided asking for help but he really had to in these days, even if he begrudged it. He soon came to allow and welcome it, asking for help when he needed it instead of being impossibly stubborn when unnecessary. Even when he didn’t like accepting help, he was always grateful to those who offered it, he just wasn’t used to it. But now, here, he was used to this. All of them together, having a good and relaxing time, taking a break before something else seemed to hit them from behind. Harley couldn’t help but let the soft and joyful noises of the conversation lull his still exhausted self to sleep.

“Harley, baby, do you—” Peter had started, about to ask Harley if he needed his pain killers since he had been shifting a bit uncomfortably a few minutes before. His words caught in his throat and he smiled down at the sleeping boyfriend in his arms. Stroking his hair back and running a hand along his arm, he dropped a kiss onto his hair lovingly. They still had a ways to go, a slow recovery for Harley and a deeper investigation into what happened, but right now, Peter felt at ease with the love of his life right in his embrace. Harley always took care of Peter when he needed it, and Peter would do the same for him.

Tony watched everyone interact in front of him from Steve and Bucky to Pepper and May— a dangerous pairing, he might add.

Loved ones could, and would, always be used against you in this line of work, even by affiliation.

They were weak points, soft spots, liabilities logistically.

Tony liked to believe that that was in part what made them stronger. Their ‘weak points’ were their strength. They would do anything for anyone else in this room, he knew that, they all knew that.

Tony Stark did have a heart.

And it was right in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might add another chapter to this :)


	2. Are you really okay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternatively titled: The Aftermath
> 
> Harley has to deal with the fallout of his kidnapping and torture, but he's not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to write another chapter so here it is! I hope you enjoy it!

_“So Mr. Keener,” the man— Jameson— began, turning to Harley with his hands on his hips, “You’re going to give me exactly what I want because if you don’t, I’m going to have to resort to extreme measures. And you definitely won’t want that,” he warned._

_Harley gulped but showed no fear, looking at his captor defiantly as he was held up by two large men. “Go to hell,” the teen scoffed, glaring at the man and struggling against the two guards holding him. Blood dripped from a laceration on his head from where they hit him in the van but he tried to ignore both it and the on and off again dizziness._

_Jameson looked to Harley’s right and nodded to the guard, giving him the go ahead._

_The guards dragged Harley roughly, causing him to stumble and fumble to regain his footing. “Wait! Where are you taking me? Let go!” he yelled, struggling and dragging his feet along the floor to slow them down._

_The guard on his right immediately stopped and kicked his right leg in harshly, pressing his knee down and to the side with his heavy boot, eliciting a loud cry of pain from Harley that reverberated through the silent corridor. His leg buckled and he was unable to support himself, the tight grips of the guards being the only reason he wasn’t completely on the floor. They dragged him wordlessly and purposely jostled and hurt his leg when he gave them trouble, their fingers leaving bruises on his arms as they manhandled him into a room and strapped him roughly to a metal chair in front of a camera._

_“I won’t give you anything,” Harley refused once he saw Jameson had reentered the room and was making his way over to him._

_“And to think I thought you were much smarter than that, Mr. Keener,” Jameson said disapprovingly, clicking his tongue and making ‘tisk tisk’ noises. “Well then I guess I’ll have to persuade you then,” he said resignedly, nodding to himself and grabbing a long knife. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said before lurching towards him._

Harley woke with a startled jolt, breathing heavily as his eyes darted around the room, taking in his surroundings. From his position laying on his side, he could see his bedside table, his desk, his schematics on the desk and wall. It was undoubtedly his room. He was home, he was fine, he was okay, he was _safe._ Taking a deep and shaky breath, Harley shut his eyes before opening them again and finally feeling the arm around his middle and the fingers carding through his unruly bed hair. His hearing finally zoned back in and he heard Peter’s soft voice in his ear.

“You’re okay, you’re with me, you’re safe,” he repeated, rubbing his side gently and dropping soft kisses to the crook of his neck. Peter gave him a few moments to calm down and come back to himself and his surroundings, keeping his hands on him the whole time and whispering sweet nothings before speaking again. “Same dream?” he asked softly, earning a slight nod in response.

Peter sighed, tightening his arm around Harley’s middle and draping it over him further, snaking it to his chest slightly as well in order to link their hands. He moved his other hand from Harley’s hair and slid it under the pillow so he could shuffle closer and mold himself to Harley’s back with his lips near his ear. “He’s in prison, he can’t get to you anymore,” he assured softly, pressing a light kiss to his cheek.

“I know,” Harley whispered, closing his eyes again and relaxing into Peter’s embrace. He knew that, he really did, he didn’t understand why the nightmares kept coming. When he finally confided in Tony and Pepper about it (upon Peter’s well-meaning insistence), he was assured by a doctor that they would go away with time as he healed. That didn’t make the healing process any better, however. Physically, he was getting there. It had been a week since his kidnapping so while the bandages may have come off, the bruises and marks were still very much present and gruesome. The cuts, gashes, and bruises would fade eventually and they wouldn’t take _too_ long to do so but his concussion would require at least another week, maybe more, and his leg would take even longer. Harley hated feeling helpless and not being able to do anything but he especially hated crutches— the offending instruments leaning against the wall next to his bed. He was knocked out of his stupor by Peter pulling the covers higher up over them, effectively covering them completely. “Thank you,” he whispered to his boyfriend, turning his head slightly so he could see him.

“Of course baby,” Peter smiled softly, pecking his lips since he had a better angle to do so. “You should get some more rest,” he suggested, noticing how tired he looked.

Harley nodded and laid his head back down, snuggling back into the bed and warmth of the covers and his boyfriend’s body. Squeezing their laced fingers once, he mumbled something that sounded vaguely like a ‘love you’ before he was lost to the void of sleep once more.

Peter smiled softly and listened to his breathing for a few minutes before ultimately settling and closing his eyes, falling asleep soon after.

The next day, Harley was sitting on one of the main area couches late in the evening with no one else around. Everyone was busy doing something— Peter had gone out on patrol, Tony was working on something in the lab, Pepper was ordering dinner— so that left him to his own devices for a while, which he could manage. He sighed however when he realized that he had left his phone on the kitchen counter and so he lowered his leg off the coffee table in order to stand up and go get it.

“Not so fast kid, I got it,” Clint assured as he entered the kitchen and immediately caught sight of the abandoned phone. He gestured for Harley to sit back down— which he did so begrudgingly but also thankfully— as he retrieved it and handed it to him, waving off his thanks before going to make himself coffee before meeting up with Nat.

Harley sighed to himself as he settled back in the cushions, scrolling aimlessly through his phone before throwing it on the cushion beside him in exasperation. He was grateful for the help, really, he hated to admit that he really needed it, but he just _despised_ feeling so helpless. He knew it wasn’t the same but he still thought it was eerily similar to how he felt in the warehouse. Completely useless, utterly helpless, having to sit there and take whatever they decided to throw at him. He closed his eyes and tried to shut those thoughts down before they consumed him. No, he was fine, he would be fine, he just needed some time.

Two days later, the bruising was beginning to fade and Harley himself was starting to feel better and more energized. That was until pain blossomed between his eyes and the hammering in his skull intensified. With a concussion, headaches could be on and off, and today it just so happened that they were very much on.

Pepper was the first to notice and she helped him get to his room slowly, turning off all the lights and telling JARVIS not to let anyone disturb him aside from her, Tony, and Peter. She pulled the covers up to his chin and brushed his hair back, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead with a soft utterance of “get some rest sweetheart” before leaving to tell Peter what had happened since he had just returned from school.

Before Harley drifted off into unconsciousness and fitful slumber induced by medication, he maintained a death grip on the covers trying to will himself not to cry. God, he _hated_ this. He hated Jameson and what he did, he just wanted it to be over and done with and for everything to go back to normal. These hopeful wishes eventually were successful in lulling him to sleep, not allowing him to wake even when the bed dipped and Peter slipped in beside him.

Three days after Harley was allowed to go back to school and work in the lab again, he finally broke down. 

He was without crutches now but he still walked with a limp and couldn’t walk for every long, but at least he was able to get up on his own. That’s what he thought at least. Harley had been sitting at his work bench, tinkering with a new gauntlet idea when he realized he would need a special welder that he left on the floor near the armor earlier. Getting up, he placed his hands on the desk to support himself for a moment before he began to walk unaided.

He was definitely not expecting for his leg to buckle after the first few steps and send a flare of pain throughout his entire limb, causing him to hiss and grip onto the edge of the table so he didn’t fall. He shut his eyes tightly and before he knew it or could stop it, tears were flowing. He heard a faint, worried, call of his name and then hands on his waist.

“Hey, hey, I’ve got you, let’s get you sitting,” Peter said gently, trying to mask his worry but to no avail. He held onto him and gently guided him back to the stool, supporting him the whole way so he didn’t put pressure on his leg and helping him sit down and stretch it out. Looking at him sadly, he noted how he hadn’t opened his eyes yet but there were tear tracks down his cheeks. “Oh baby,” he cooed, lifting a hand to his cheek. “Harley, can you look at me?” he asked gently.

Harley sniffled, unable to do anything about the sob that broke through his chest and lips but he nonetheless obliged and opened his eyes, watching as Peter dragged a nearby stool over so he could sit across from him and hold his hands. “I just feel so helpless all the time,” Harley croaked, “I can’t even get up to get a blowtorch by myself, I can’t walk anywhere without help, I was helpless when my dad left, I was helpless with Jameson—” he rambled, another sob cutting off his words before he found himself with his arms full of Peter Parker. He hugged him back tightly and cried into his shoulder until he could calm down.

Peter rubbed his back for as long as he needed and felt tears blur his own vision. He only pulled back once Harley had calmed down enough and he wiped the tears off his boyfriend’s face. “You’re not helpless,” he started, “You were kidnapped because they caught you off guard and your armor was still undergoing repair, you were hurt so you’re having some trouble but you’re going to heal and be fine. You saved my ass more times than I can count and you saved Tony’s when you were only ten and even more after that. You were five when your dad walked out on you and he’s an asshole for that but you couldn’t do anything about it. You, Harley Keener, are anything but helpless. These are just things that were out of your control but you’ve gotten past them. And being injured doesn’t make you helpless, or a liability, or anything. It just means that you need to rest and that’s not a bad thing either, that doesn’t make you weak,” he rambled, making sure Harley understood each and every part. “I felt helpless when I found out you were kidnapped. I was _right there_ Harley, I was so close, I could’ve stopped it but I was inside in the cafeteria with Ned and MJ and you were already long gone,” he admitted.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Harley argued, shaking his head.

“I know,” Peter nodded, “So it’s not yours either.” It had taken him a long time to understand that properly. Tony and Harley had to help him constantly with his self-guilt and blame. There were certain things that you just could not help, but that didn’t do anything to your character, it didn’t change you. “Needing help is okay, asking and accepting it is okay, you may need it but you’re still as strong as always. You’re hurt, mentally and physically, and you just need to rest for a few weeks before you’re back to one-hundred percent, but I’m with you the entire way okay? You’re always there for me, let me be there for you too,” he finished, holding his hands again and giving them a squeeze. 

Harley felt like he could cry again with his rapidly blurring vision as he nodded quickly, pulling Peter back into another hug. “Thank you, I love you so much,” he breathed into his shoulder, closing his eyes.

“You never have to thank me, and I love you more,” Peter said, shoulders sagging in relief as he held him close.

After a while, Tony eventually came down to tell them that dinner was ready. He hadn’t expected to find the two boys asleep in each other’s arms on the only couch in the lab. He wasn’t all that surprised either.

Two days after their moment in the lab, everyone was gathered in the living room for movie night. Harley was sprawled across one of the sofas with his head on Peter’s lap and his legs on Tony’s. When Pepper passed him his phone that he couldn’t reach, he didn’t think he was helpless, he simply thanked her and laughed along with everyone else at Clint’s joke and the sarcastic replies that followed.

Three days later, Harley was on a speedy road to recovery and finally feeling like himself again. He was caught up in school and his projects in the lab, he could walk easier now and most of his bruises had faded or were well on their way. He still needed some help with certain things and he still got tired after too much activity and he definitely couldn’t be Iron Lad again just yet but he was getting there. As promised, Peter was with him every single step of the way as were Tony and Pepper and even MJ, Ned, and Happy along with the other Avengers. 

Laying in his bed now with his head on Peter’s chest and the covers pulled up all the way,his boyfriend’s arm around him and his over his middle in return, he felt really at ease for the first time since his kidnapping and subsequent torture. The nightmares had gone too and he slept peacefully, even better now that Peter had taken to sleeping in Harley’s bed every single night (this had been happening for a good while). It was something he was definitely now used to and had to discuss with Peter as things calmed down (but before something else happened).

“What are you thinking?” Peter asked, running his hand along his arm and looking down at him.

“That I’m okay, really okay,” Harley answered honestly, lifting his head to look up at him.

Peter could only smile and duck his head down to meet him halfway in a passionate and loving kiss that was eagerly returned.

Yeah, they were okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! 
> 
> Feel free to drop prompts/requests in the comments or my ask inbox on my Tumblr: harleykeenerdeservesbetter
> 
> Kudos and comments are always much appreciated :) 
> 
> Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


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